


Even if You Just Need Someone to Hold Your Hand Till You Fall asleep

by tigercry



Series: Obgaku (Music) Elite Academy [3]
Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Alternate Universe - Art School, Comfort, F/F, Honoka kinda gets in the way, Kotori has nightmares, Umi comforts her, kotumi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:36:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25707538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigercry/pseuds/tigercry
Summary: I will be there.Kotori wakes up in tears and who better than her quiet blue-haired best friend to comfort her? And work around Honoka's attempt as well?"I am always here for you Kotori, no matter what."
Relationships: Minami Kotori/Sonoda Umi
Series: Obgaku (Music) Elite Academy [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1842244
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	Even if You Just Need Someone to Hold Your Hand Till You Fall asleep

**Author's Note:**

> I have two NicoMaki Oneshots out for this world (with them featured in another one) and since Kotumi is literally my favorite ship in Love Live, I wrote this and it's companion piece "A Drowsy Umi Is An Open Umi"  
> READ FIRST ONESHOT IN COLLECTION FIRST!

Kotori tried to keep the hiccuping quiet as she rubbed the tears from her eyes and kept her face buried into her pillow. She didn’t used to have nightmares that often, but… the rough tension between Umi and Honoka, her two best friends, had begun to take its toll on her toward the end of last year and this play had only made it worse. Nobody should have to deal with a project of this size, and yet she, her nine friends, one YouTuber, and her new room-mate had been working on it for a week or so now. 

Kotori’s eyes strayed up toward the bunk above her where she knew her reserved best friend and crush was no doubt asleep. 

The writing double major was really busy with the play between all of the music and working on the beginnings of the script again and so as a result, Kotori rarely saw her during the day anymore. Umi was there in the morning, she still patiently hung around till her morning class but after that it was a lot of shared glances and Umi leaving things in the dorm room for her or the occasional silly poem in her bag to try and keep her from being lonely. 

Maybe… No, Umi was too busy for her to wake her up right now.

Kotori sniffled a little, still feeling rattled and confused from her nightmare. 

But… was Umi really too busy? Too busy to help her when she needed it? She had said before that she would help her any time and it wasn’t like Umi was unused to her having nightmares or crying at night, particularly through their first year at school here.

Such as when Umi had told her crying was cathartic during that first year... 

* * *

_“Kotori?” Kotori’s view of the dorm room was partially obscured by long blue hair dangling down as a familiar face peered sleepily at her upside down._

_Kotori jumped, startled and breathed a sigh of relief at it being just her room-mate and middle school friend Umi Sonoda. “Y-you scared me Umi-chan,” she sniffled and rubbed at her eyes, wishing for once she could just be cool like Umi was._

_“Why are you crying Kotori?” Umi asked, her dark amber eyes sleep-ridden but open and concerned, “did something scare you?”_

_“N-No,” Kotori buried into her pillow, “I’m f-fine.” She didn’t want to be seen as weak or small, especially by her closest friend here at this new school. However… when she looked up at Umi the bluenette wasn’t looking at her with scorn or irritation for waking her up, rather she was calm and kind and concerned just like she always was._

_“You know Kotori, the strongest warriors in history don’t fear their emotions.” Umi’s upside down face disappeared but Kotori could still hear her talking and shifting up on the upper bunk. “Crying is cathartic, it relieves stress on the body and mind and it helps someone relax. However, do you know something else that can help someone relax and also fight back against fears?”_

_Kotori saw Umi’s socked feet and the ends of her sweatpants as she started to climb down the ladder._

_“No?” Kotori replied as she watched the taller girl climb down, a blanket draped around her shoulders._

_“Company,” Umi explained simply and nudged her over about six inches before she laid down, facing Kotori. “Sure, misery loves company, but if that’s the case why can’t everybody?”_

_Kotori stared at her, feeling a sense of protection wrap around her by the other girl. “I see what everyone says about you being a prince Umi-chan,” she giggled, if only to see the way Umi’s eyes widened and she chuckled in awkward embarrassment. “But…” she smiled at Umi before she closed her eyes, snuggling her favorite yellow pillow, “I like having Umi as my prince.”_

_“Then…”_

_Kotori felt Umi’s fingers wrap gently around hers, “if you ever need someone to help you, even if it’s just holding your hand till your fall asleep, you can always ask me Kotori.”_

* * *

The name escaped her lips before she even thought about it. 

“Umi?” 

“Mmph…Kotori...” Umi groaned and Kotori heard her roll over, mumbling something or other under her breath in her sleep.

Well she had already half committed, might as well just commit the whole way through.

“Umi?” Kotori whispered as she rolled over onto her back and pushed lightly at the upper bunk with her feet, disturbing the other girl just a little more.

“I heard you…” Umi mumbled with a sleepy breath and the bluenette rolled over onto her stomach and groggily slipped an arm through the side bars of the bunk closest to the wall down toward the girl below her. “You...okay…?” She asked and Kotori took comfort in the thick slur in Umi’s voice that gave away that she was pretty much still asleep.

Kotori lifted a hand to Umi’s and when Umi silently curled her fingers around her hand, she breathed out a shaky breath. “Y-Yeah, I’m okay.”

“Do you want me to come down there?” Umi’s offer was just above a whisper, but Kotori heard it all the same.

Kotori hiccuped, feeling more tears threatening to blur her vision in the limited lighting and parted her lips to say yes because she wanted her comfort.

“Kotori?” Honoka’s groggy voice made Umi jerk her arm back up and out of Kotori’s grasp, “are you okay?”

Kotori swallowed thickly feeling frustrated tears mixing with her other ones along with a stabbing pain of disappointment before she felt guilty and she rolled over to face Honoka, “yeah, I’m fine H-Honoka.” But she didn’t want to be fine, she wanted to be happy, she wanted to be comforted and to feel protected, not guilty and upset. 

“Doesn’t sound like it,” Honoka pointed out her rare ability to break through Kotori’s lies and Kotori cuddled her pillow as she watched the ginger climb out of her bunk and head over to her. “Remember the sleep overs we used to do as kids?”

“Yeah, course I do,” Kotori scooted over toward the wall and turned toward it. Trying to ignore the growing lump in her throat and the guilt that Honoka wasn’t the person she wanted to sleep beside in their company. “Sorry I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“It’s okay,” Honoka hummed and Kotori felt her childhood friend’s back brush hers as the ginger got comfortable, “hopefully the scary monster goes away and you can sleep better now.” Kotori could hear the sleepiness in Honoka’s voice thickening and yet… she couldn’t bring herself to try and speak. 

Honoka was just trying to comfort her and yet here she was upset at the act of trying to help. 

As Honoka’s breathing deepened into sleep Kotori swallowed hard and tried to calm down and take deep breaths to relax and try and sleep, but she couldn’t. Nothing was working.

Then Kotori saw the wall paint itself with soft blue stars and she almost sat up but didn’t, in worry of waking Honoka up. Instead her wide golden eyes followed the constellations that slowly moved across the wall from what she knew was Umi’s astrology projector likely placed on Honoka’s bunk and her ears listened to the soft muted sound of footsteps before the shifting of cloth. She felt a hand calloused by archery and hard work slip gently into hers and curl around her smaller fingers.

Where when Kotori tilted her head up she found dark amber eyes looking calmly back at her and blue hair framing an angled face whose chin was resting on the sheets. “Umi?” She breathed the tension in her chest and throat threatening to dissipate.

Umi held a finger to her lips but Kotori felt her brush her bangs from her face before the taller girl’s lips pressed comfortingly to Kotori’s slightly clammy forehead and Kotori heard her murmur something against her forehead.

“Go to sleep Kotori, I’ll stay here till after you fall asleep.”

Kotori watched Umi pull away and silently rest the side of her head down on the sheets, dark blue hair hiding parts of her vibrant eyes. The sweet smile that Kotori felt spread over her face was worth every second as she saw Umi’s lips pull up into a gentle smile of her own before Kotori’s eyes fell closed and she tightened her grip on Umi’s hand in hers.

**Author's Note:**

> I love portraying the gentle but protective side of Umi Xd


End file.
